Nickel Brook Cuvée is a rich auburn reserve ale, brewed with premium European and North American malts, Caribbean Demerara and a special mix of fruits, herbs and spices. This beer is then blended with ale aged in bourbon barrels that results in a complex and unique final product. Enjoy it today, or lay it down in your cellar and savor the changes in character as it matures. Cheers!

Appearance - Copper colour with an average size frothy off-white coloured head. There is a low amount of carbonation showing and there is some good lacing on the sides of the glass. The head lasted for close to 3-4 minutes before it began to dissipate.

Smell - Malts, clove/all-spice, caramel

Taste & Mouth - There is an average amount of carbonation and I can taste malts, caramel, and a light booziness. There is also quite a bit of clove/all-spice and a bit of a yeast.

Overall - An interesting beer.. kind of like a fall/halloween type flavour going on. I can't pick up on the barrel aging very much though. Happy I picked a bottle, but probably not a repeat purchase.. maybe just one more to age to see how it develops. (770 characters)

A clear reddish amber with some tiny particles being moved around by several streams of bubbles, three fingers of beige foam quickly falls to a thin film but manages to leave big random patches deep down the glass

S all-spice, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, raisins, lots of brown sugar, vanilla, anise, prunes,there's lots going on that's for sure, hard to pinpoint everything, very heavy on the spice, spiced orange tea bag, I don't get everything stated on the label but I get a few not listed that's for sure

T root beer and cola, and a whole pile of spices listed above, orange peel comes out a little more then the nose, almost to much going on, a bit overwhelming, pepper plays a part I couldn't smell and a hint of wood

M lighter side of medium, bubbles foam it, slippery on the palate almost slimy, a little booze and a confusing spice finish

O hard to focus on anything on its own, perhaps too much going on in this one, not really sure what the bourbon barrels doing in this one

no shortage of action in this one but it might hinder more then help, piles of spice complicate things and I want to love it but I merely like it (1,248 characters)

Appearance: Poured with a finger of head that mildly laced and retained head well enough. The body is a cloud brown that boasts sandlike grains of yeast floating in it, despite my pour barely emptying more then half the bottle and no discernible carbonation.

Smell: Spicey to the nth degree. Smells like every conceivable baking spice was put into this one as cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, cloves, orange zest and gingerbread all make a powerful appearance. I think I'm picking up slight fruity yeast, malt notes and citrus hops, but it's not definable to distinguish apart from the spices. It's really strong too, like could double as vaporub strong. Good stuff.

Taste: Starts out mild as the caramel malt settles in with the vanilla and cinnamon and then the strong spices taste over, as ginger, cloves and a note that reminds be of rootbeer and it finishes with malt snap with a dusting of earth hops and a hint of pepper. It's good...but it feels bit more more like drinking mild Jager then beer. Oddly enough, despite being aged in bourbon barrels apparently, I didn't pick up a single whiskey note.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation is a little lackluster, but the transitioning is quite good. The aftertaste is a very mild, nice mixed spice note where the sweet caramel malt is dominant. That being said, a slight slimy note seems to pervade near the end of the glass.

Drinkability: Lighter end of medium bodies and the low carbonation and despite the aggressive spicing, settles down quite well. That being said, it's a bit dry in the throat oddly enough, not exactly leaving you quenched.

Final Thoughts: All in all, this was a positive experience. If you want a spiced beer, this is it, and really this is what I want a Winter Warmer to be. However, this isn't a winter warmer (or at least this doesn't appear to be the intention) and generally I don't expect oak aged beer to not have oak or the taste of the accompanying alcohol product worked into the beer. So one thumb up, but a word of warning, if you are just getting into craft beer...this one might be a bit too overwhelming. (2,090 characters)

Broke a bottle opener trying to open this, I recommend removing the wax first. From the bottle into a tulip glass. Colour is a murky medium brown with a good initial tan head, leading to a fairly dense lacing, also some fermentation bits that came out of the bottle and are floating on the top.

T - full balanced start, more robustly malty and bodied than anticipated. Some nice oaky and tart caramel notes, some of the vanilla emerges on the end. It has a wine-like, character of rich cherry, woody oak, slight hints of bourbon, and orange peel, then dries out during the finish. Despite this, it doesn't 'pop' initially, and the malty character does dominate the herbs slightly, but the roll together into a smooth, full and dry beer. Solid yeast character, but could be elevated to the next level, becomes a bit woody toward the end. I want come of the herbal and spicy yeast characters to come through, still quite good.

M - full bodied, with an even refreshing carbonation. Not too hot for the strength, actually quite nice. Drying with vineous character on the finish.

Overall, this exceeded my expectations. A nice and balanced curvee, but it is a bit mellow. There is a lot of rich herbal and subtle yeast notes, but they sort of drift to the background. If it had a bit more sourness I would love that, the barrel aging and herbs are there but somewhat lost in the mix. The lemon citrus is the freshest note, ontop of a caramel malt base, aging it would be interesting. Worth seeking out, very tasty! (1,771 characters)